Pictures of my Betta

I finally took some pictures of our new betta, Jemini. It almost caused a disaster last night when our Malone ate some leaves of the peace plant. I had NO idea that the plant would be poisonous to him. But he's OK now!

I'm sure you probably know this already, so I hope you are not offended, but I always feel compelled to say something when I hear of betas kept in vases with plants. Actually, I'll just post some information from a couple web sites, so my fingers don't fall off!

"The Betta vase is a recent craze where vases with a plant (Often a Peace Lily) were sold with a male Betta included. The first generation of the instructions said that there was no need to feed the Betta as it would live off the roots of the plant. Now one grossly incorrect thing here is that bettas are carnivores. They eat small insects and worms in their natural habitat, and will only nibble of plants. They can derive little nutrition from a vegetarian diet. The worst part of this item is that it takes a healthy male betta about a month to starve to death, so by the time the fish dies people often assumed it dies of something different than starvation and go get a new one.

It is okay to keep a betta in a vase, but there are a few qualifications that should be met. Bettas do need at least enough space to turn around, so make it a bigger vase. The plant is also a good idea, but having one smallish plant will not make up for water changes. In a bowl or vase water changes should be gradual, about 10 percent a day, replacing the water with dechlorinated tap water. Also feed your betta. There are many inexpensive staple betta diets, buy smaller packages so that the food does not have a chance to go bad, and feed them 2-3 pellets a day. Also keep them warm. Bettas come from tropical water, and love heat, between 77-80 are good temps for keeping a happy betta."

and .....

"The problem is, I have heard, that the instructions say that the bettas can survive without food--that they can eat the roots of the plant. Well, to tell the truth, bettas are carnivores. They don't eat vegetables, unless they are really really hungry. If you really want to have one of these types of setups, you have to do it right. Just like any other water for fish, you have to keep the water clean. A good weekly water change is good. The water gets dirty quickly from both rotting parts of the plant, and the wastes of the fish. I would just keep one single betta in the vase, remember, they fight. There's hardly enough to keep one fish anyway! They get their air from the surface of the water, so any other type of fish would not survive long in those conditions.

Setting up your betta vase, you should consider that your betta needs to breathe. To breathe, the betta goes to the surface of the water and gulps some air. Not like your typical fish, eh? So, you have to make sure that there is space for the betta to break the surface of the water and get some. If the roots are in the way of the betta, don't be afraid to cut them off, it actualy would help the plant because it'll grow some more roots. Just make sure he can breathe. Please, that's very important.

Of course you would have to feed him, remember, he doesn't eat the roots! You can buy some fish food from the pet shop, or get some foods specially designed for bettas. Just make sure you feed him. You'll have to do water changes weekly. That's because of the waste from the fish and the rotting of the leaves or roots. If you do see rotting leaves, cut them out. Don't be afraid to trim the roots once in a while, because they'll grow back. Just enough so that your betta will be able to breathe."

Thank you Twisterdog, for the info. We feed him every-other-day to every three days food especially made for Bettas. What I DIDN'T know is that Bettas go to the surface for air. I think tomorrow (when I do my weekly water change) I will cut the roots back some more to make sure he has enough air.

IMO, you should feed your fish every day. It's really not natural, or healthy, for them to only eat every other, or every third day. I have two betas, and they are in bowls that look to be about the size of your vase. I don't have live plants in them, however. I feed my fish every day, sometimes twice per day. They always eat it all. I change their water once a week. Perhaps you could try feeding him every day and see how it goes?